It was a great if exhausting weekend. The Sustainable Ballard Festival was fun – not quite as busy as the Seattle Tilth fest, but pretty good considering it was blustery, overcast and raining for much of the day. I met Jim McDermott, as mentioned before, and he said helow to my hens. The girls also got their picture taken by a photographer from the Ballard paper, can’t wait to see if they actually get published.
Saturday night the girls camped out in the car while I went to dinner with my friend Mia at Olives in Edmonds. The food was tasty, except for dessert, and the wine was great. They even let us taste a couple of options before choosing the wine we wanted with dinner.
Sunday was the last day of the Everett farmer’s market. Only about half of the usual vendors were there, but all of my favorites made an appearance including Frog’s Song Farm, Gypsy Rows Co, Tonnemaker Orchard, Tiny’s Organic Fruit and the Snohomish Bakery. I picked up enough produce for the week plus a few extras. It was pouring, so while I would have loved to stay and chat, I wanted to get home out of the rain even more.
Mike and the rest of the brave hunting men got home late in the afternoon. It was a successful hunt for deer, they got a total of four mule deer. Unfortunately they didn’t have an opportunity for any elk which is really what they were after. Mike passed on most of the deer he saw, holding out for a big one, and then missed the one he wanted. So no venison for our freezer this winter. Well, maybe a bit from the other guys. But really, neither of us is that big of a fan of venison. We much prefer the taste of elk.
We had our first wood fire of the winter yesterday – I was chilled and lit it to take the edge off and welcome the true beginning of fall. We roasted a chicken and enjoyed it with wild rice, salad and apple tart. The chicken was amazing if I do say so myself. It was juicy and tasty just like a chicken is supposed to be.
Tonight we took the leftover chicken and wildrice and made soup with it. Wow – talk about the taste of winter from my childhood. I enjoyed every bite and I’m in total anticipation of having it for lunch tomorrow as well. In case you want some winter warmth in a bowl as well, here’s the recipe. All of the ingredients for the soup were local and/or from the farmer’s market except for the chicken broth (organic) and the dried herbs (bulk organic).
*****
Wild Rice Soup
Serves 6
- 2-3 cups cooked chicken, shredded
- 3-4 cups wild rice, cooked
- 1 sliced leek
- 3 chopped carrots
- 1/2 cup chopped mushroom
- 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
- dried oregano, parsley and thyme to taste
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup flour
Melt the butter and saute the leek, carrots, mushroom and bell pepper until soft.
Add the flour and stir in until warm, do not let it brown.
Add the herbs, broth and chicken. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer.
Add the wild rice. Simmer 15 minutes until hot and slightly thickened. Serve with warm rolls.
Urban Hennery 